November Reading; “Future(s) Proof”

Well, here we are. Presented with a present that discourages, and a few bleak futures that seem to be rolling towards us as inexorable as a mudslide. For those of us in America, or those of us in its impact crater (which still seems to find its way to include everyone else), the top of the Month cemented a disappointing reality of the attitudes and prejudices of some Americans and represented a grave statement on voters’ confidence in the state of things now and soon to come.  What’s the role of the arts in a time like this?

I genuinely don’t know. I stand by my work, and feel secure in the meaning participants create through it. I also find myself wondering what other forms and projects this moment asks for, and which of those I may be equipped to build.

Until then, the past few weeks have put me in a thoughtful place about one of many functions of art - helping us imagine other kinds of futures. And so as has been repeatedly the case, I changed plans from my originally scheduled reading to center a recommended read from a few dear friends, and to think about the path from what’s present to what’s possible.

EVERYTHING FOR EVERYONE; An Oral History of the New York Commune 2052-2072

M.E. O’Brien & Eman Abdelhadi

You may have heard the oft-cited quote “The role of the artist is to make revolution irresistible,” as articulated by Toni Cade Bambara, an African-American author, filmmaker, and activist. But the striking thing about Everything for Everyone is the way it makes future revolution history - a work of speculative fiction that looks back from a new world already made and reflects on the crises and moments that created it.

In particular, I was struck by a section in the introduction, where the authors introduce themselves as they exist in this fictional timeline, and in doing so imagine their ideal paths through a fraught and difficult set of global circumstances. I found it surprisingly moving, and to be the most surprising act of self-insertion since I read Cixin Liu’s “Curse 5.0,” which depicts him and a fellow Chinese Sci-Fi author as buffoonish failed writers who accidentally unleash a terrible future.

In a moment where Future of any kind can feel overwhelming and hopeless, a book that works to imagine it with a nuanced balance of hope and clear-eyed pragmatism about the pain that may arise as societies fall and change feels, simply, revolutionary.

Related Reading

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas

Ursula K. Le Guin

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The Ones Who Stay and Fight

N.K. Jemisin

This month’s related readings are inspired by me only recently learning that one of my favorite short stories by N.K. Jemisin is a direct response to a famous story from Ursula K. Le Guin. While they take different tacts and have different framings, both do a marvelous dance of presenting us with a seeming utopia and then repeatedly challenging us on our inevitable skepticism. It’s a fascinating pair of readings to do in succession (I’d recommend letting at least 12-24 hours breathe in between - I did them one morning after another), and a primer on an entire genre of “Omelesian” thought experiments (the original of which, of course, has its own literary inspirations).